SAN JOSE, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 18, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bell Microproducts Inc. (Pink Sheets:BELM) one of the world's largest value-added distributors of storage and computing technology, and BLADE Network Technologies, Inc. (BLADE), the trusted leader in data center networking, announced today that the companies' joint initiative to deliver BLADE's 10 Gigabit Ethernet solutions as part of BLADE's Cloud Ready Network Architecture for mainstream data centers is reaching critical mass in the channel.
BLADE has emerged as one of the top three providers of 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches and holds a 2x market share lead over Cisco in blade server networking. Since the launch of BLADE's RackSwitch Solution Partner Program in February 2009, BLADE and Bell Micro have recruited a rapidly growing cadre of data center solution providers to deliver BLADE's RackSwitch family of 10GbE top-of-rack switches.
Through BLADE's Cloud Ready Network Architecture, solution providers can deliver the high-bandwidth/low-latency switching, convergence to Ethernet, massive virtualization for agile workloads, scalable management and advanced energy efficiency required for today's cloud computing environments. BLADE's partner program enables mainstream data center solution providers to add value to BLADE's Cloud Ready solutions in combination with HP or IBM blade server solutions equipped with BLADE's market-leading blade server switches. BLADE's open solutions ensure flexibility and high performance in today's virtualized data centers and cloud computing environments without tying the customer to proprietary data center architectures.
"In today's challenging economy, demand for 10 Gigabit Ethernet data center networking remains strong and cloud computing is clearly on the rise," said Gary Gammon, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, Bell Micro. "This demand for 10GbE networks combined with the channel community's strong preference to add value to customer solutions clearly favors vendors BLADE's open approach to unified networking."
About BLADE RackSwitch
Priced at under $500 per 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, BLADE's RackSwitch products leverage a new set of rules for the data center called "Rackonomics" to reduce the total cost of ownership of data center infrastructures, overcome network overload and enable scale-out data center economies. For the first time, data center architects can standardize on a unified and affordable rack-level network infrastructure to provision and scale out Web 2.0 environments, high-performance clusters, cloud computing environments and virtualized data centers. The industry's first green networking product, RackSwitch, uses less power than two light bulbs and is uniquely designed to meet the needs of the dynamic datacenter, affordably and efficiently, allowing for virtual, cooler, easier data center networking.
"BLADE's RackSwitch products provide the right combination of low cost, low latency, and low power for next-generation data center networks," said David Giorgi, Director of Channel & Business Development for Ciara Technologies. "BLADE's superior products combined with their RackSwitch Solution Partner Program, gives us the opportunity to add data center network solutions to our portfolio profitably as we address the growing demand for HPC-class computing technology in mainstream data centers."
About the Growth of 10GbE
According to a recent report by Dell'Oro Group, 10 Gigabit Ethernet in the data center is a "bright spot" in the Ethernet switch market, with significant new product introductions helping to propel 10 Gigabit Ethernet growth as those products begin to ramp in 2009. (See: "Ecosystem in Place for Strong 10 Gigabit Ethernet Server Adoption" and "10 Gigabit Ethernet in the Data Center a Bright Spot.")
"We are extremely pleased that mainstream demand for 10 Gigabit Ethernet in the data center has coincided with the introduction of our RackSwitch Solution Partner Program, and the popularity of our initiative with Bell Micro to address the channel community's requirements for open networking solutions," said Tracy Hickox, Vice President of North American Sales, BLADE Network Technologies.
BLADE and Bell Micro are partnering to deliver 10 Gigabit Ethernet solutions, such as IP SANs for scalable storage performance, single-wire networks that converge networking and storage, environments tuned for Video on Demand (VoD) and streaming broadcast environments, as well as any data center environment that requires cloud computing or HPC-class performance. The two companies are also pursuing opportunities for server and storage consolidation, data center virtualization and green IT.
Cloud Ready Network Architecture Webinar: Tuesday, June 23 at 11am PDT On Tuesday, June 23rd, at 11:00am-12:00pm PDT, experts from BLADE Network Technologies will hold a webinar to describe how BLADE's Cloud Ready Network Architecture can help meet data center needs for:
* High density server environments * Latency-sensitive applications: high-performance computing (HPC), market data feeds and analytics * Flexible storage with IP SANs * Converged networking and storage with simple, unified wire networks * Bandwidth for Video on Demand and streaming broadcasts * Any virtualized data center environment that requires cloud, green IT or dynamic computing
To register and for more information, go to: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/592382266
About Bell Microproducts Inc.
Bell Microproducts (Pink Sheets:BELM) is an international, value-added distributor of a wide range of high-tech products, solutions and services, including storage systems, servers, software, computer components, and peripherals, as well as maintenance and professional services. An industry-recognized specialist in storage products, the company is one of the world's largest storage-centric value-added distributors.
Bell Microproducts is uniquely qualified with deep technical and application expertise to service a broad range of information technology needs. From design to deployment, its products are available at any level of integration, from components to subsystem assemblies and fully-integrated, tested and certified system solutions. More information can be found in the company's SEC filings, or by visiting the Bell Microproducts Web site at www.bellmicro.com.
The Bell Microproducts Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5738
About BLADE Network Technologies
BLADE Network Technologies is the leading provider of Gigabit and 10G Ethernet cloud ready networking solutions for servers and storage in dynamic data centers worldwide. In addition to its innovative OEM blade switches, virtualization, and management products, BLADE's "Virtual, Cooler, Easier" RackSwitch family enables "Rackonomics" -- an efficient approach for scaling out data center networks to drive down total cost of ownership at the rack-level. BLADE's customers include more than 300 of the Fortune 500 across 26 industry segments, for an installed base representing more than 250,000 network switches and nearly 6 million switch ports connecting over 1,200,000 systems. Visit: www.bladenetwork.net. Twitter: BLADENetwork.
BLADE Network Technologies, the BLADE logo, BLADEHarmony, RackSwitch, RackSwitch Solution Partner, SmartConnect and VMready are trademarks of BLADE Network Technologies. All other names or marks are property of their respective owners.